1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from house stuff Works 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant uh with me as always 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: looking good. I am, yeah, thank you, Josh um that 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: makes this stuff you should know. And you were looking 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: good as well, sir. Set a new shirt. No I'm not. 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: It's I don't know, less than six months old. I 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: guess it's kind of new, all right. I'm trying to 9 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: think it was pouring way I could start a show 10 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: as you pretty high up there. Josh is wearing a 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: lovely stripe blue button up as he has one to do, 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: and I'm wearing a Everything is Bigger in Texas green 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: T shirt. We're both in jeans. I have on my 14 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: last chance garage hat. Yep, anything else I want to 15 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,279 Speaker 1: I want to set the scene for once. I've got 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: a beard, now you've had a beard. I'm clean shaven, 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,559 Speaker 1: clean shaven. Yeah, I've started to do the clean shaven 18 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: thing more than scruffy. I was doing scruffy for a while. 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: Are you which way do you like? Hope for you? Yeah, 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: I think whatever you mean likes, which is clearly not scruffy. 21 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: She likes it both ways. Oh yeah, yeah, all right, 22 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: that's that's that is the most boring way to ever 23 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: start a show. We should all go to sleep. Now 24 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: I've got a story for you, all right, all right, 25 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: and you know some of this so you don't have 26 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: to pretend like you're surprised. Back in eight thirty nine, 27 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: there is a man named Charles Goodyear, and Charles Goodyear 28 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: whose last name you might recognize for good reason, uh, 29 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: figured out a way to make rubber, natural rubber tougher 30 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: than leather. It's called vulcanization. Yes, okay, So this process 31 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: of vulcanization took rubber, which is naturally um kind of 32 00:01:54,400 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: stickier gooey at warmer temperatures and um rigid at cooler temperatures, 33 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: and made it much more a pliable, much more, much 34 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: more flexible, but able to stand up to really punishing 35 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: conditions like heat, lots of pressure, and force, which made 36 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: it perfect for car tires, hoses, fan belts, all of 37 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: the stuff that we use rubber for today. This guy 38 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: is the reason we're able to write the reason that's 39 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: tough enough. Yes. Now, the fact that this came in 40 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: nine means that this innovation came during the Industrial Revolution, 41 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: which means that all that stuff that the rubber could 42 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: be used for could be mass produced, which means that 43 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: we needed a vast source of rubber as a raw 44 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: material for this vulcanization process. And luckily, I guess you 45 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: could say, at least for the Westerners, uh, we knew 46 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: where to get vast stores of rubber, the Amazon, which 47 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: is where this very specific type of rubber tree is 48 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: indigenous and is found in vast supply. Right, all right, 49 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: you're with me so far. So we went down on 50 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: the Amazon, and as a result, these parts of Brazil 51 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: that were just totally impoverished were suddenly suddenly found themselves 52 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: at the center of a global rubber boom and just 53 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: became decadently wealthy, like almost overnight. Brazil and the Amazon 54 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: was the center of this global trade and rubber for 55 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: decades until eighteen seventy six. These British guys snuck some 56 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: rubber tree seeds out of the Amazon and took them 57 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: to the botanical gardens in London, Okay, and they started 58 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: to work on forming a hybrid that was even better 59 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: than the ones in Brazil. A hybrid plant, a hybrid 60 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: rubber tree that could coincidentally thrive in British colonies in 61 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: Southeast Asia. Perfect, it was perfect for the British. By 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, the Brazilian stranglehold on the rubber um trade 63 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: was being challenged and was in real trouble by countries 64 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: like Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Um and Thailand, and by 65 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty the Far East held the basically the monopoly 66 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: on the rubber market. All right, that's a good background. Thanks, 67 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: I'm almost done. So about the time the Southeast Asia 68 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: started to dominate rubber, we needed it even more than 69 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: when Brazil dominated rubber because cars were being mass produced 70 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: in each of those required four rubber tires, right, So 71 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: Southeast Asia's hold on rubber was even stronger than than 72 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: the one that Brazil had, plus one in the trunk. Yeah, 73 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: that's right, five um. And by the time World War 74 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: Two rolled around, we'd come to rely on rubber so 75 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: much that it was calculated the US military the Pentagon 76 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: needed thirty two pounds of rubber for every troop on 77 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: the ground for things like tires, boots, anything you need 78 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: rubber for, right, every soldier, which makes it a It 79 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: was a very very very big deal. When the Japanese 80 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: successfully invaded the Pacific theater, including Malaysia in Sri Lanka, 81 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: including all these rubber producing places and cut off the 82 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: rubber supply to the US, and We're like, we need rubber, yeah, 83 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: we need it bad. And they were like, well we've 84 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: got it. Yes, And by the way, let's go. When 85 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: you win, there's going to be stragglers on these islands. 86 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: You will one day podcast about them. Hero. So what happened, Chuck, well, Josh. 87 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: Because the US is industrious and bright and has it 88 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: never say die attitude, they said, you know what, why 89 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: don't we commission some labs and academic institutions to develop 90 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: a synthetic rubber. So they put out the call because 91 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: they needed this for the wartime demand. And UH, all 92 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: these chemists got to work on it, and UH invented 93 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: something called g R dash S, which is Government Rubber styrene, 94 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: and it turned out to be a great replacement for rubber, 95 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: and by we were producing twice the amount of all 96 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: all the world's rubber combined, the synthetic rubber and synthetic 97 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: rubber in the US. Wow. So this is like one 98 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: of the most this is one of the biggest chemical 99 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: chemical engineering accomplishments ever created, ever undertaken. Right, um so 100 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 1: g RS huge still in use today. Right, is like 101 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 1: the standard for synthetic rubber. Um it changed everything like 102 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: that was it was like bye bye, Malaysia, Sorry about 103 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: your your rubber monopoly falling apart. You shouldn't have let 104 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: you pain invade. Well, I'm sure they still had plenty 105 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: of customers. I'm sure they still did. They weren't like, oh, 106 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: we got all this rubber, right, what are we gonna do? 107 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: We we we chose the wrong team. Uh So, this, 108 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,840 Speaker 1: this synthetic rubber, this triumph of chemical engineering, was not 109 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: without setbacks though, Right. Well, no, anytime you're trying to 110 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: synthesize something like that, it's gonna there's gonna be some 111 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: ups and downs. And this was a nationwide challenge by 112 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: the War Production Board. It wasn't just like hey, you 113 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: five guys over here. It was like, attention in all 114 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: chemical engineers, all chemists, anybody who has anything to do 115 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: with chemistry. We need a synthetic rubber, and we needed 116 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: an abundant supply. So there are a lot of people 117 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: working on this, and one of those guys was James 118 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: Wright of General Electric GE. He mixed bork acid with 119 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: silicon oil, and uh, so you know that this is 120 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: gonna be a great synthetic rubber. Unfortunately it wasn't a 121 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: great synthetic rubber. His quote unquote bouncing putty is what 122 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: he called it. But Gee thought I had some promise. 123 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: Gee thought I had some promise. But it did pretty 124 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: much wallow away in obscurity at first, right for um, 125 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: almost a decade. It just kind of made the rounds 126 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: to other places like, hey, can your guys do anything 127 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: like with this, We'll share the patent, whatever, just figure 128 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: out what we can do with this, and uh, apparently 129 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: GE got this. Uh. It was so widespread that it 130 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: made its way to a party that a guy named 131 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: Peter Hodgson, who owned an ad agency in New Haven, Connecticut, 132 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: attended a cocktail party. Remember spam. That's where spam came from. 133 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: Cocktail party in New Year's Eve. Great things happen when 134 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: you get together and drink. Uh. This guy was at 135 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: a at a cocktail party and saw some people playing 136 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: with this um bouncing putty that James as James Wright 137 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: called it, and said, you know what, these adults seem 138 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: fascinated by this. I just happened to be working on 139 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: a catalog for a toy store, and I think this 140 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: would make a great adult novelty. So he approached the 141 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: lady who owned the Block toy store, right yeah, and 142 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: I got there's varying accounts of this story. I think 143 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: it's one of those deals where because I saw somewhere 144 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: where she was the one that saw it and contacted 145 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: him and said, hey, can you put this in my catalog? 146 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: So either way, Peter Hodgson and Ruth fall Gadder, who 147 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: owned the Block Shop toy store, they they decided to 148 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: put it on the pages of their their catalog to 149 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 1: sell as a toy. Right and it was two dollars, 150 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: not chump change in nine. No, it's definitely not um 151 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: and it was an adult novelty as they reckoned, right, Sorry, 152 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,559 Speaker 1: just say adult novelty and a lot of things come 153 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: to mind, Spitzer Gifts, I know, I know. It wasn't 154 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: that kind of an adult worldly okay, uh no, it 155 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: was an adult diversion. It became a big seller, is 156 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: what it became. Yeah. So yeah, it was the block 157 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: shops biggest seller, one of them. Um. And then this 158 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: this I found a little hazy for reasons that remain unclear. 159 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 1: Did you find anything out about why fall got her 160 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: stopped backing the product. I couldn't find anything on that, 161 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: but I guess even though it sold big for her, 162 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 1: she was just like whatever. Maybe she just had her 163 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: thing going and she's like, why don't I want to 164 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: start a new product. I'm a toy store owner? Yeah, 165 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:54,719 Speaker 1: why do I want to be a millionaire? Exactly when 166 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: he's the root of all evil for her, R. Rubic, 167 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: I have no no plans for the exactly so uh so, 168 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: the whole, the whole, the whole drive, the whole push 169 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: to make this into something big, what we now know 170 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: as silly Putty fell completely the Hodgson and he turned 171 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: into a whirling dervish. Between nineteen fifty, he borrowed a 172 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: hundred and forty seven dollars and bought another batch from 173 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: ge hired a Yale student to roll them into uh 174 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 1: twenty eight graham one ounce balls, packaged them in plastic 175 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: Easter eggs, and sold them to double Day bookshops and 176 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: Neiman Marcus along the way. He also um took them 177 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: to some chemical engineers in Schenectady, right yeah, and said, hey, 178 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: copy that reverse engineering. It's like that website that has 179 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,599 Speaker 1: like all of your favorite recipes from like Applebee's and 180 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: Kentucky Fried Chicken. Reverse engineering. First get chicken from a 181 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: sealed bag, right, that's pretty sauced exactly, and put it 182 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: in a pan. Yes, they're like, do you have Cisco's 183 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: phone number? So that's what he did, and you're right, 184 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: he did make pretty quick work of it, um, because 185 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: after he opened a manufacturing plant. Yes, all this is 186 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: in a year he first encountered this stuff in this 187 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: is nineteen fifty. He believed in this what would be 188 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: Actually he's he had already settled on silly Putty as 189 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: the name. Yeah, well, he was an ad agency guy, 190 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: so brain storing some names, evaluated fifteen of them, was like, 191 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: this is the one he trademarked. It was Nutty Putty one. 192 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: I think that was one of them. I think that 193 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 1: would have sold to So he had the silly Putty name. 194 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: At this point, opened the manufacturing plant in Connecticut, and 195 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: soon after that landed Neeman Marcus in double day bookshops 196 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: as customers, which was huge, it was, but it became 197 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: even huger when um some writers from the new Yorker 198 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: went to Double Day, and they encountered, do you want 199 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: to read this part? You're I'm not gonna read it, 200 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: Scotch and read this one all right. It was in 201 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: the Talk of the Town section in nineteen fifty in 202 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: the New Yorker. We went into the Double Day bookshop 203 00:11:57,880 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: at Fifth Avenue and fifty second Street the other day, 204 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: intending in our innocence to buy a book, and found 205 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: all the clerks busy selling silly putty, a gooey, pinkish, 206 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: repellent looking commodity. The commodity I love that that comes 207 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: in plastic containers, the size and shape of eggs. We 208 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: sought out Mr Lee Weber, the manager of the bookshop, 209 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: to ascertain the mysterious link between it and Double Day. 210 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: He told us that silly putty is the most terrific 211 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: item and that Double Day shops have been privileged to 212 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: handle it since forever. Amber yea forever Amber. I looked 213 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: it up. It was a bestseller from the forties. It 214 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: was about a woman in Restoration England's late seventeenth century 215 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: England who, through her sexy wit, went from rags to 216 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 1: riches and became like the favorite mistress of Charles the 217 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,719 Speaker 1: second was banned in Boston. Yeah so because of this 218 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: um pretentious bit of cynical whimsy that appeared in the 219 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: New Yorker, Um, the sales overnight, uh for Silly Putty 220 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: just exploded. He got Hodgson got um three hundred, seven 221 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:06,679 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand orders. Two D Man, Why did 222 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: I quarter of a mill? You're probably thinking three quarters? 223 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: I was. I was thinking about the orders that weren't there, exactly. 224 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: He got a quarter of a mill in three days, 225 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: a quarter of a million orders, and at two bucks 226 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: a pop, that's a lot of money, especially considering that 227 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: he only half a million dollars. Yeah, yeah, that's well. Yeah, 228 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: I was thinking about the half a million he didn't make. 229 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: Uh So it was like basically an overnight success thanks 230 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: to Neiman Marcus, Double Day Books and the New Yorker 231 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,199 Speaker 1: and GE and the Japanese. But I mean again, this 232 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: is all happening in a year that's pretty speedy. This 233 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,199 Speaker 1: is a whirlwind year for this guy. I'm happy for him. 234 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: Just just looking back on this story, I hope he 235 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: was a good guy and he didn't like beat up 236 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 1: little kids on his way to work. He passed away 237 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy six. I hope before then he didn't 238 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: do bad things, but he saw it become a huge 239 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: success because when he died in nineteen seventy six, Silly 240 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: Putty was in twenty two countries plus the United States, 241 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: with sales exceeding five million a year. And that was 242 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: in seventy six. Yeah, which I looked it up. That's 243 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: nineteen million today, ten dollars, I think. But um, it's 244 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: it's pretty it's pretty good. Yeah. Uh yeah, they seem to, 245 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: they seem to, Yeah, well he's set up um Arnold 246 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: Clark Inc. And I never found out who Arnold Clark kiss. 247 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: Maybe that was an alien of his, who knows, um, 248 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: But Yeahola apparently owns Silly Putty. Now, now we've just 249 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: described the history of Silly Putty. That should be enough. Um, 250 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: But I mean, surely there's no one out there who 251 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: hasn't played a Silly Putty before. I used to play 252 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: with it like crazy when I was a kid. And 253 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: one thing I would do, which is something that they 254 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: found out. You know, it was originally intended for adults, 255 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: and they were kind of surprised to learn that kids 256 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: were into it and it didn't take long for the 257 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: kids sales to dwarf that of adults. It was nine 258 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: sales overtook it. Initially he said, He's like, you know, 259 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: this is great for adults because you can come home 260 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: and unwind at the end of the day by squeezing 261 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: it and just blowing off steam by copying newsprint with it, 262 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: May I, And that's what I did with it, was 263 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: was copied comic books. So in that New Yorker article 264 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: they interviewed Hodgson and he had he had a quote, 265 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: it means five minutes of escape from neurosis. It means 266 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: not having to worry about career or family difficulties, and 267 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: it appeals to people of superior intellect. The inherent ridiculousness 268 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: of the material acts as an emotional release to hard 269 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: pressed adults. So it obviously worked because we're not in 270 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: Korea any longer. It's interesting, though, that he was wrong. 271 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: I think it's funny how somebody can be wrong on 272 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: something and still be right, you know what I mean, 273 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: Like all the uses and the intent was he was 274 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: completely wrong, but it's still skyrocketed, and he's like, oh, well, 275 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: it's for kids. Then he kind of cast a wide net. 276 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: On the patent license, it was for um stress relief 277 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: hand therapy for people who needed it. Um it could 278 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: be used to block out low frequency noises. Yeah, they 279 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: still claim you can do all this stuff today, like 280 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: it's good for therapy and for like gumming up holes 281 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: and cleaning typewriters key which is a huge use these days. 282 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: Well computer keys. Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about this, 283 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: um but yeah, so the guy was very much focused 284 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: on it being uh um for are adults, but kids 285 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: kind of took it for themselves, mainly because you could. 286 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: One of the great properties of silly putty is you 287 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: can stretch it out, push it down on newsprint, and 288 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: you have a mirror image of it. That's what I said. 289 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: That's what he used to do. Oh you did say that. Yeah, comics, comics, 290 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:16,959 Speaker 1: and you can't it's harder to it's harder to do 291 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: that these days because the print they use, like you 292 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: literally have to find like a newspaper in order to 293 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,400 Speaker 1: do that. Yeah, you can't do it on the Internet 294 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 1: or a magazine. Yeah, you can't do it on a kindle. 295 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: You could do it on a magazine. H No, I 296 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: think you can know, dude, it's got to pick up 297 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: the ink. I know I can't do it on a magazine. 298 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: I can tell you from reading Harper's by the Pool 299 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: that that's stuff smears. And if it's smears, I guarantee 300 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,239 Speaker 1: you can get it on silly putty. Uh. Lucky for 301 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: him though, it was non toxic, so when kids started 302 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: playing with it and inevitably putting it in their mouth, 303 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: there were no issues with that. Right, So how you 304 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: should not eat it? We should say that don't eat 305 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,919 Speaker 1: anything that's not food or anything that has the name 306 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 1: silly in it, or putty, silly string, silly anything. Um. 307 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: So Hodgson made mention of its um inherent ridiculousness of 308 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: the material. Right, Um, it has some really strange properties. Uh. 309 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: He originally called it so. He described it as a 310 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: solid liquid right when you um. When you stretch it, 311 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: it's like taffy. It stretches, right. Uh. If you pull it, 312 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: it just snaps apart if you quickly and with a 313 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,440 Speaker 1: lot of force. Um. If you stick it to like say, 314 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: um bookcase, you come back a few days later, it 315 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: will have very slowly moved down, very slowly, very which 316 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: means it flows, which is weird. But we'll get to 317 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: that in a minute. Um. And when you roll it 318 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: up into a ball, it bounces higher than rubber. Yeah, 319 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: they did a test. They rolled it into like a 320 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: perfect little ball, and they dropped it with no force 321 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 1: from three ft and it bounce bounces back two and 322 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: a half feet. Supposedly, that is dynamite. Not bad. And 323 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: if you throw it down real hard, you know you've 324 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: got yourself a super ball in your hands. So what 325 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: is the stuff? Well, what are the the what's the 326 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: science of silly putty chuck? The science of so? Well, 327 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: before we get there, can I say about the egg? 328 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: There are several varying accounts on why it was put 329 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,479 Speaker 1: in an egg. Some people say it was because his 330 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,120 Speaker 1: first batch went out before Easter and then he just said, hey, 331 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: it's actually pretty good idea, let's just keep it in 332 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: the egg. Other people say he got the inspiration while 333 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: eating eggs one morning, good for you. And still other 334 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: people say that he couldn't find another container in abundance, 335 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,199 Speaker 1: and he had like a line on these plastic eggs, 336 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: and I was like, I'll just use desk because this 337 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: is a pretty good way to put it in there. 338 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: It's about an ounce so I let's just do that 339 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: either way. That became the signature that's still used today. 340 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: Anybody full of egg carms, right, the egg fill is 341 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: silly putty. I feel silly. You could probably get silly 342 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:04,879 Speaker 1: putty full of egg, but you don't have to do 343 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: it yourself at home. Um. Alright, So back to what 344 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: this stuff is, um, josh, it is a polymer, right, yeah, 345 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: it's a visco elastic polymer. Basically, it's subject to the 346 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: science of fluid chemistry. Right. And fluids are not necessarily liquids. 347 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: Liquids are fluids, but not all fluids or liquids. Gas 348 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: can be a fluid, Some semi solid substances can be fluid. Basically, 349 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 1: a fluid is anything that yields to slight pressure and 350 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: has no definite shape. Fluid Your your gut is at 351 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: least okay. Um. So so that's uh, that's the science. 352 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: That's the part of chemistry and physics that we're looking 353 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: as fluid chemistry. Um. And the ruling principle of that 354 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: of fluid chemistry is viscosity. Where do we talk about this? 355 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,640 Speaker 1: I know we've talked about viscosity. We talked about viscosity 356 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 1: in UM quicksand right sheer mayonnaise This quas visquosity, Josh. 357 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: Viscosity is uh. It measures how much a fluid resist 358 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,440 Speaker 1: flow at a certain temperature. So so viscosity is resistance 359 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: resistance to flow. If you're like me and you can 360 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,199 Speaker 1: never remember what's viscosity, what's viscous, or what's high or 361 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: low viscous, viscosity is resistance to flow. Actually the easiest 362 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 1: way to remember is water is low. That pretty much 363 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: says it all, just so, that's easy. Like peanut butter 364 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: would have a high viscosity, water would have a low viscosity. 365 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 1: That's pretty easy way to it has a high resistance 366 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: to flow or low resistance to flow, like honey or 367 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: molasses and um. Viscosity is often measured in pascal seconds, 368 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: Not so much anymore now it's measured by dying seconds 369 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: per square centimeter, also called poise, and ten poise equals 370 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: one pascal second. What that means I cannot. I couldn't 371 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 1: rent my mind around before then every site that I 372 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,880 Speaker 1: saw it took it for granted that I understood what 373 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: what that measures. But it measures viscosity or flow. As 374 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: far as I understand, what I love is that someone 375 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: somewhere said, uh, pascal seconds just said and cutting it right. 376 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: The guy whose last name was Poise or poisel, I 377 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: believe that's what happ came up with poise um. But yeah, 378 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: so that's uh how viscosity is measured UM. And the 379 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: more pascal seconds are, the more poise there are, the 380 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,719 Speaker 1: more the higher the viscosity is UM. But the thing 381 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: about viscous fluids, they all well, I should say, most 382 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: of them are subject to um temperature. That's what affects 383 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: their viscosity. If you if you have cold honey that 384 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 1: you're trying to get out of the bottle, it doesn't 385 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: flow very well. But if it's a room temperature or 386 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: if it's warm, it flows. It's it's much less viscous, right, 387 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: it flows much more easily because it's subject just to temperature. 388 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,680 Speaker 1: That makes it a newtonium fluid. That's also a pet peeve. 389 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,399 Speaker 1: When you go to a place and get pancakes or 390 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: waffles or French toast and they have the heated syrup. 391 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: Oh I like that, you do? Yeah? I like my 392 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: syrup thick? Okay um, you like it thin and watery 393 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,360 Speaker 1: like that? Yeah, as long as it's warm it's watery 394 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: because it's low and viscosity and it's warm. Um, but 395 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,200 Speaker 1: that's but it's just temperature. There has nothing to do 396 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: with force or pressure or anything like that. If a 397 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: fluid is subject to not only temperature but also force, 398 00:23:42,600 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: it's what's called a non Newtonium fluid. Chuck, are we 399 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: at the email point? I believe we are, Chuck. This 400 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 1: was pretty nato. We got an email from a young 401 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: listener just a few weeks ago that seemingly had nothing 402 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 1: to do with this podcast. But Josh and his wisdom 403 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: looks back and says, hey, this kid actually described this 404 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: Newtonian fluid very well. Yeah, and so let's just read 405 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: his description. And it came before we decided to do 406 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: silly putties, so it was all just serendipitous, just sitting there. 407 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna read the holy he and this 408 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,200 Speaker 1: marks the first time that a listener has actually contributed 409 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 1: to the body of the show's information. And so this 410 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: is a UM. He's a young listener too, as we'll 411 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: find out, Dearest Josh, Chuck and Jerry, and he spelled 412 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: Jerry's name correctly right out of the gates. Kids on 413 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: the Ball, Hi guys, I wanted to say how much 414 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: I love your podcast and your thing voices which get 415 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: me through long road trips. I may be considered one 416 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: of your younger quote listeners since I am eleven years young. 417 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: I needed an excuse to email you, so I'll tell 418 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 1: you a little bit about non newtonium fluids. This kid, 419 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: Sir Isaac Newton said that fluids such as water flow 420 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: continuously regardless of forces that act upon it. So if 421 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: you put your hand under a faucet, the water still 422 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: flows no matter what, making it a newtonium fluid. But 423 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: non newtonium fluids like catch up blood and yogurt behave 424 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: differently based on the amount of stress added onto it. 425 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: Try adding corn starch to water. If you put your 426 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: hand into it, it behaves like a liquid and allows 427 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: your hand to go through it. But if you punch 428 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: it with a lot of force, it behaves like a 429 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 1: solid and stops your hand from entering. Corn Starch and 430 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: water is called you black, like the doctor Seus's book Bartholomew, 431 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: Bartholomew and the O Black. Sorry if that was long 432 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: boring or not entertaining. I don't write articles as well 433 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: as you, guys, anyway, I love the podcast and keep 434 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: up the great work. I hope to keep listening to 435 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: the podcast and that one day we will hear Jerry 436 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: speak together. We will find a way. Your podcast confused 437 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,399 Speaker 1: my friends with amazing knowledge and make me sound like 438 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: the smartest kid in sixth grade, and for that, I 439 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: thank you you'r s y s K super fan Matthew 440 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,919 Speaker 1: from New York PS, what kind of music do you 441 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 1: guys like? I like Pink, Floyd Hue, listened the News 442 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: and weird Al Yankovic. So there's non Newtonian fluids for you. 443 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 1: And dude, when you came to me and said, hey, 444 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: are you cool with us reading this kid's thing to 445 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: describe this? I went yeah, because you know what that means. 446 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: I don't have to do it. He saved me. Yeah, 447 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: he did know. He saved both of us. Funny our 448 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:44,120 Speaker 1: favorite little U Blake, New York. Basically, the non Newtonium fluid, 449 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: as as Matthew points out, is basically acts like a 450 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: solid and a liquid all at once. So he was 451 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: right way back. Hodgson was way back in the day 452 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: correct when he said it was a liquid solid or 453 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: a solid liquid exactly. Um. The reason Why is because 454 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 1: it's main ingredient is polydime methyl si ox sane, right, 455 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: and that means that's what gives silly putty. It's fisco 456 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: Alaska fisco elastic properties. So it changes depending on long 457 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,239 Speaker 1: flow time meanings, say the force of gravity acting on 458 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: it down a bookcase um and temperatures. Right, So a 459 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,399 Speaker 1: long flow time a high temperature, it behaves like a 460 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: highly viscus fluid. It will just kind of slowly flow, 461 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: but at lower temperatures and when um the when when 462 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: it has short flow times high pressure is applied really quickly, 463 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: it will just break, which is why you can snap it. 464 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: I wonder, I guess if you heat it up, does 465 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: it become liquid? If you heat it up, it becomes radioactive. 466 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: It's like super Happy fun Ball. Okay, remember that you 467 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,680 Speaker 1: don't the same live commercial for super Happy Funball. It's 468 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: just like a regular ball. But there are all these 469 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,400 Speaker 1: warrings like do not stand directly at super happy fun Ball. 470 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 1: It's super happy Funball begins to smoke, run away. You 471 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: gotta look it up. I'll find it for you. We remember, 472 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: we fought for that. For the title of our audiobooks 473 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: was like the super happy fun guy to what you know, 474 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,879 Speaker 1: happiness or whatever. I think awesome was in there somewhere 475 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: and they said, now, yeah, simplified. Um, So that's it. 476 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: That's the science of silly putty. But let's say, Chuck, 477 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,160 Speaker 1: you don't have much money, you're down on your luck 478 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: in this economy. It happens you still want some silly putty. 479 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: What do you do? You make it? Dude, You can 480 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 1: very easily make your own. I don't know this here, 481 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:33,679 Speaker 1: you do, okay? Because I don't have this. I know 482 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: that there's probably some sort of Borax involved. There is 483 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: bo x involved, or you can use corn starts for this. 484 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: I'm gonna use boor x because I think we should 485 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: support our friends at twenty mule team bore Ax hundred 486 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: something years. And by the way, kids, Uh, even though 487 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: this is a safe thing, you should always get your 488 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: parents to help you when you're making stuff like this, 489 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: because you might just make a big mess and then 490 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: they would be mad at us and take away your iPod. 491 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: It's exactly right. We don't want that. Uh. There was 492 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: I was listening to an old episode and there was 493 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: one about a kid who wrote in and said that 494 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: we had um we've gotten his iPod taken away because 495 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 1: his teacher he asked her about alien hand syndrome, and um, 496 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: his teacher couldn't answer. So she took his iPod and 497 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: said it was a utensil for cheating. And he said, 498 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: for the record, I never used my iPods a utensil 499 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: for cheating, basically smoked her. She was embarrassed. So, um, 500 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: if you wanted to go ahead and gather these things. Um, 501 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: there's a white craft glue, Elmer's glue will work. Um 502 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,719 Speaker 1: any bor X twenty mule team Borax works very well. Uh. 503 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: Some warm water and food coloring if you like, and 504 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: we'll we'll wait here while you gather thus, okay Um. 505 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: So you want to take your white craft glue, you 506 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 1: want one cup of it sixteen ounces eight ounces sorry, right, 507 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: okay um, which I think is the standard size of 508 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: just a regular thing of Elmer's glue. You take your 509 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: three quarters cut warm water, and you make a nice 510 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: glue water mixture, and you're gonna find that the glue 511 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: dissolves pretty readily in the warm water, chuck and which 512 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: means it has a very low viscosity. Then you take 513 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: your borax, just a half of a teaspoon. I've also 514 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: seen up to a teaspoon one of those two slowly added, 515 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: and you're gonna find very quickly that the viscosity increases dramatically. Okay, 516 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: um after a little while when you're stirring it, you're 517 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: eventually gonna have to get it to the point where 518 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: you just pull it out and you rub it together 519 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: with your hands or whatever. And um oh, when you 520 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: add the borax, you also want to add the food 521 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,680 Speaker 1: coloring to if not yours have white silly putty. Um, 522 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 1: but you roll around in your hands, there's your silly putty. 523 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: It's done. And what happened was your the polymer chains, 524 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: the molecular chains of water and the glue weren't sticking. 525 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,360 Speaker 1: They just slid right past each other, which kept them 526 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: in the Newtonian fluid category. Or but the moment you 527 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: out of that borax, it came in and said, hey, 528 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: let's all just band together. And it took these polymer 529 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 1: chains and linked them so they could no longer slide 530 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: past one another. They were turned into a net or web, 531 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: and that's what gives the putty it's elastic like qualities, 532 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: and these long polymer chains it just hook up and 533 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: hook up and hook up. How long does that stuff last? 534 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: You know, I don't think humanity has been around long 535 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: enough to know how long silly putty will last? I mean, 536 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: how made silly putty? I don't know until your little 537 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: brother eat it? Because I thought I saw something about 538 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: putting it in the fridge. You can store in a 539 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: receivable bag or container to keep soft. Well, that nice. 540 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: So that's it. And does it does it copy print 541 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: the same way? I wonder, or just have the same 542 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: elastic properties? I don't know, don't. Let's do it all right, Okay, 543 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: that's hey, that's what we're doing this weekend. Okay, weekend. 544 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: I'll bring the apron sweet to bring the beer. So 545 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: that's it. I would say that this UM this podcast 546 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: was a quintessential um Stuff you should Know podcast. It 547 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: had an iconic American product. They had a lot of history, 548 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: It had science, the the the chemistry behind it, and 549 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: it had do do it yourself at home recipes. The 550 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: four tenants and a kid and a cute kid. Five pillars, 551 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: five pillars, We we nailed this one. And a cocktail 552 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: party six pillars. That's it, all right, Go get you 553 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: some silly putty. I know they had. I think for 554 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: their anniversary they had gold silly putty for the first 555 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: time ever. Believe I remember that. And I think they 556 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: now have things like glowing the dark and you know 557 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: it gets all wacky. It used to just look like, uh, 558 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: I guess, pinkish, but sort of a fleshy pinkish. Remember that. Yeah, Um, 559 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: I think they still have that too, though the original. 560 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: They've got to You can't. You can't forget your roots 561 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: like that. So dads can go to the toy store 562 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: and say, nah, you're not getting glow in the dark. 563 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: You're getting this, You're getting pink. That's what I had 564 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: when I was a kid, and I loved it. You're 565 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,360 Speaker 1: gonna love it too. Let's get some comics wherever they 566 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: sell those and press it against their online all right, 567 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: all right, So if you want to learn more about 568 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: silly putty type and silly putty, it brings up a 569 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: really cool article, um, including a recipe, an extended recipe 570 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: even um. So that's s I L L Y Space 571 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,480 Speaker 1: p U T T Y and in the search bar 572 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com. Since I said search bar, 573 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: that means it's time for a listener mail the second 574 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:30,239 Speaker 1: one in this podcast. Indeed, Josh, I'm gonna call this 575 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: smart stuff from a lady in Columbia, South Carolina. You know, 576 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 1: sometimes we just get these listeners that just send us 577 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: really good, intelligent emails, and I think those are always 578 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: worth reading. So here we go. Hey, guys, just finished 579 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,280 Speaker 1: listening to the Future of the Internet cast had a 580 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 1: few thoughts about the so called dumbing down of culture. First, 581 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: I'm highly skeptical of any claims that uh to assert 582 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: a sea change in intellectual ability. Smart and dumb are 583 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 1: culturally and historically relative terms, and it's also true that 584 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 1: people have been bemoaning the intellectual poverty caused by new 585 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: technologies ever since writing was invented. Secondly, I'm not actually 586 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: sure the utilization of deep memory a good is a 587 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 1: good one in and of itself. Yeah, something might be 588 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,799 Speaker 1: lost with those ah ha moments, but I'm much more 589 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: impressed by someone's ability to make novel and surprising connections, 590 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 1: something that the Internet actually facilitates, than by the pedantic 591 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 1: memorization of facts, which I would argue wasn't pedantic, but 592 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: that's me. Third, and most personally, the ability of the 593 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: Internet to store and offer up vast quantities of information 594 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily wipe out sustained research or thought. I'm finishing 595 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 1: up a dissertation that I could have, uh couldn't have 596 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:46,360 Speaker 1: written without Google Books, and that would have taken me 597 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,839 Speaker 1: a lot longer without Google scholar. Yeah, sometimes I find 598 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: myself lost and then indefinitely I'm sorry, infinitely expanding more 599 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: ass of tabs as I disappeared down some research rabbit hole. 600 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: This guy is obvious putting off working on this dissertation 601 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: by writing this email. It's a lady, but that's always 602 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: been the nature of scholarship. You never know where a 603 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:10,880 Speaker 1: question will take you, and the ability to quickly pursue 604 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: various strands and to figure out which ones aren't going 605 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: to take you anywhere productive is I think transformative for academia. 606 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 1: All of this to say, the Internet might diminish our 607 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,800 Speaker 1: ability to store quantities of facts, but mourning that ability 608 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,520 Speaker 1: privileges facts and quantities effects are not necessarily indicative of 609 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: a culture's intelligence. Sustained reasoning and interpretation is, of course 610 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: something else entirely, and that is from Josephine Are of Columbia, 611 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:42,399 Speaker 1: South Carolina via Los Angeles. So wait, she's I think 612 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,040 Speaker 1: currently in Colombia from l A. No, no no, no, from 613 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:50,279 Speaker 1: l A via Columbia. Nope, she's in l A FROMA. 614 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,680 Speaker 1: You are right now, man? How funny this follow up 615 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:59,880 Speaker 1: a smart email like that, dumbrie like demitery. All right, 616 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 1: that's it. Thank you Josephine for that. We appreciate it. 617 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,800 Speaker 1: That was actually kind of a big topic of UM 618 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 1: dissent people writing in about that after that podcast. But thanks. 619 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,760 Speaker 1: I think she summed it up pretty well. Agreed. Um. Also, 620 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: we should correct ourselves Cheddar American cheese no English after 621 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,400 Speaker 1: the English town of Cheddar, So sorry about that, England, 622 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:29,239 Speaker 1: thanks for taking away one of our American cheeses. I 623 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: can't think of any more corrections right now, but we 624 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:34,879 Speaker 1: will figure them out, Yes we will. If you want 625 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,799 Speaker 1: to send us a correction, we're always open to that. 626 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: You can also send us any cute, silly putty stories 627 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,879 Speaker 1: that you've got, um let us hear them. You can 628 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: tweet to us s y s K podcast. You can 629 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,920 Speaker 1: um go on to Facebook dot com slash stuff you 630 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:51,279 Speaker 1: should know, that's our fan page, or you can send 631 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:55,440 Speaker 1: us an old email at Stuff podcast at how stuff 632 00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: works dot com for more on this and thousands of 633 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:12,719 Speaker 1: other topics. Visit how stuff works dot com.